Witchfire
by Kori No Tora
Summary: A story of my first ever D&D campaign that I played to Completion. Set in the Iron Kingdoms from Privateer Press, an unlikely group travels south for reinforcements to save their nation but along the way get caught in a conspiracy that could unravel the fate of Cygnar. Unskilled in appearance, these novice heroes are put to the test as they try to return home.


p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Fog blanketed the ground of the Thornwood forest, an eerie feeling hung in the air leaving the party tense. The had been charged with protecting a caravan and had been joined by a part automaton sharp shooter, named Fred Pravdin, as well as a child wizard at the age of 15 named Cormac Kildale./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"The wagons halted as the Caravan's leader, Gunner Waddock, surveyed the road. The young noble in charge of the party stepped forward, and followed suit. Looking through the fog for a sign of danger. His name was Andreas Antares, a self proclaimed Baron for the nation of Llael. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Gunner slowly reached over to the rifle holstered by the edge of his seat and gingerly gripped the end of its stick where the weapon connected to the magazine. He slowly took into his arms and continued his sweep through the fog. The tension growing more, Andreas looked back to his team with a wave of his hand./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Alright team," He said in hushed command. "Weapons at the ready."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"A moment of silence passed as each person froze in their place, waiting for the danger to find them. Hands on their blades and pistols ready to draw at the first sign of movement from any where in the veil of mist. Perhaps they were overreacting. Then Gunner drew his rifle upward and fired into the fog as a creature waned in pain then fell out of the fog dead./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Swamp gobbers..." Antares muttered./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Ambush!" Gunner called out. With his warning the wagons sprung to life, his men jumping off their seats and grabbing their weapons while the party scattered amongst the three wagon convoy, their weapons now drawn. Andreas looked to his retinue, then fear filled his eyes, Where was Aric? Where was his second rogue?/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Nasally and disgusting goblin cackling began to echo from the tree lines as the rear wagon of the caravan shook violently as Fred b-lined to the trees, he had managed to get there before the gobbers were able to fully surround the caravan. With surprising dexterity for a man, weighing nine times more than a normal one, Fred began to climb and ascend a large pine tree. As he reached the top he pulled free his weapon of choice, A rulic steel scout rifle, comprised of a leg of a chair and pipe and a spoon both made from rulic steel which he aptly named emFor /ememSchnitts and Giggles/em. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"He cradled it into his arm and shoulder, taking aim down it's barrel and into the dense fog below. Meanwhile Cormac and Antares stood at the front of the wagon line. Cormac peered into the mist and readied a spell. Embers smoldered in his hand as it was then lit full blaze. He extended his hand outward toward his masked foes and a furious mass of fire streak off in the veil. As the glow faded in the fog he heard no cries of pain or death, he had missed his intended targets. The child swore under his breath./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "This fog's magical, ain't no way swamp gobbers have the brains to use magic like this." Gunner grunted, still tracking enemies through the trees that flanked the caravan./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "So there's someone working with them then." Cormac said, almost reassuring himself of this fact./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "No," Answered Antares. "Swamp Gobbers loath humans, let alone civilized gobbers, they must have a device that can cast the spell with mechanika."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Then its decided," Gunner said jumping off his perch on the wagon his rifle strung over his right shoulder. "Find the muck raker with the contraption, we'll turn the battle on their heads by the time they realize what's happened." The caravan leader then took off into the tree line before either two protectors could muster an argument./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "And how are we supposed to find them in this interminable fog?" The child asked, frustrated and irritated. With a loud crack of thunder rolling through his ears, Antares and Cormac held their heads in pain from the loud noise from above the trees. A numbing ringing followed behind it, and after a few moments passed the uncomfortable ringing died down as Cormac saw a dead gobber before him. It's head looked as though it had been blown away by dynamite and his chest cavity was torn open by the forceful removal. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" Fred had found his targets. He promptly searched for his next victim, jumping between wagons and fighters below him until his sights were finally obscured by the fog. "Found your little rat's nest!" He called down taking a pot shot into the dense cloud. After a moment and the fog had not dispersed he concluded, missed. It was time for Fred to change locals./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" Elsewhere, hidden in the brush of the forest was the missing rogue of the retinue, Aric Zwieg. The missing member Antares would probably hang later. He had taken to stealth as opposed to the direct combat strategy. In front of him sat a gobber in hiding, waiting for its chance to attack unsuspecting member of the traveling group. To simple, he thought, but Aric wouldn't argue with this perfect opportunity. He flicked his wrist and activated his hidden blade and struck through the brush into the creatures neck, and missed? It was OK, the gobber hadn't noticed yet. After silently and carefully retreating his arm he struck again. The creature idly leaning forward cause Aric to miss a second time by inches./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" Aric's patience ran thin and grabbed hold of the small green imp and drove the wrist blade into it's throat out of frustrated rage. He shifted his eyes to see the gobber had a partner hiding with it and quickly lept after it. Trying to avoid an open fight the young rogue pinned the creature down and sunk the still blood stained knife of the creature's ally into it's throat killing it. A loud snap, like that of lightning, caught Aric's attention and he picked himself up, returning to the main road./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Cormac. Aim for the dense fog over there!" Antares called out whilst fighting off a gobber of his own./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Silence ingrate, I need to concentrate!" The child retorted as his hand illuminated with a purple aura. Waving it before him, a column of magic shot from his range and struck a target with in the mist with a sharp screech. The fog began to dissipate, revealing a broken, chimney puffer with odd attachments in ruins next to the corpse Cormac had made./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "I knew that spell, would do the trick." He said confidently./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" Andreas cut down his enemy as Cormac saw the deeds of his works then rejoined him as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Good job, but can you make more?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" He pointed into the tree line and as the fog faded away the forest came alive with a hoard of gobbers standing in plain view of the caravan. The numbers were larger than any of them could have thought at least three gobbers to any one man they had with them. Cormac pressed his staff before him defensively, as Antares backed up to the covered wagon behind him, knocking on it's wooden brace./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "TinkTink, we could use a hand here." He called out cautiously, trying his best not provoke their attacks all at once. The tarp over the wagon began to stir then ruffle, with a loud tearing of the fabric came a wiley little lighter green shaded gobber clothed in a workman's apron and thick soot coated goggles. Clutched in her hands was a large wrench easily twice her size yet she wielded it like a knight to their sword./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"A swamp gobber slowly approached her, muttered then yammering on in its native tongue. None in the party could understand it, save for TinkTink. She did not answer it but instead, in fell swing of her wrench, cleaved into the creatures head and with her strength decapitated her swamp cousin. The head landing near the others, most visibly unnerved by the brutality one of their kin showed while others took it as great insult and lept to avenged their fallen brother./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Again TinkTink showed no remorse, swinging the wrench back the other way from her first strike and landing her thick heavy metal wrench into another swamp gobbers face. Again decapitating him on the spot and sending it's head sailing clear over the trees and landing somewhere into the forest. The horde of gobbers now felt certain fear as they began to flee in mass. The men from the caravan picking them off with their rifles and pistols as they fled./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"A loud snapping from a branch caught Aric's attention from the tree's above him. Hearing screams of fear and panic filled the forest as the sharp shooter plummeted down from the sky landing hard on the muck below the trees. A high pitch screech of fear then silence came from beneath Fred when he collided with a hidden gobber, killing it instantly and knocking the half man out cold. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"From behind him Aric heard the hysterical laughter of Gunner Waddock as he strode out of the trees with three dead gobbers slung over his shoulder. He bent over next to the young rogue holding his side with his one arm as his laughter continued./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "T-tell me...You- saw that.." He wheezed between breaths of laughter. The next sentence he couldn't finish as an unconscious moan of pain whimpered from the half man now starting to sink in the mud do to his heavy limbs. Gunner handed Aric the corpses slung over his shoulder as he weakly wobbled over to the wounded protector. He coughed to stifle his laughter then with one arm heaved the two ton heavy body of Fred into the air and over his shoulder. He rocked back then with a turn of his heel threw him. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Fred's body sailed through the air for a short while as if he were weightless before landing hard onto the tarp covered back of the wagon in the rear, the very same he previously left. When he landed the wagon shook and the heavy steel wheels creaked uncomfortably as cracks broke through from the sudden weight put onto the simple transport. /span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "That's enough fun to be had, we've got a city to get too." Gunner called taking the corpses back from the now awe struck rogue. Gunner patted Aric's shoulder roughly, feeling like he knocked it out of place. The men cleaned the road of any corpses and the protectors piled into the wagons all achy and tired from the encounter that they were fully prepared for./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Aric, can I speak with you for a moment?" Andreas called before Aric could climb into his wagon./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" The caravan began to move once more now free of their troubles and Gunner could see the gates of the city on their horizon as they exited the forest. "Andreas, you know me, direct combat is not ideal for a rogue, especially one trained for assassination."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "I understand that," The young noble groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "But you need to be able to depend on the others in the retinue, What if Lyllyth had been captured or Nez was injured?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "Alright, I see your point there." Aric sighed after a moment of thought and then the realization of their situation. "Andreas...Are you sure we can handle this type of mission?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;" "I don't know to be honest." He sighed in exhaustion as they walked. Their pace grew slow as the wagons passed by them. "We're supposed to be getting reinforcements for Llael, but if we can't kill a horde of gobbers, how are we supposed to fight off Khador?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"Aric opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of Gunner Waddock blowing his horn to their arrival to the gates of Corvis, The City of Ghosts. "Rest easy lads, we've made it home, Welcome to Corvis, the oldest city in Cygnar!"/span/p 


End file.
